


Top Tier Combatant

by cassacain



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics)
Genre: Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 15:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15003560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassacain/pseuds/cassacain
Summary: On live television, Stephanie watches in horror from her couch as Bane, sporting a venom upgrade, takes down Batman. With only Batgirl left, Stephanie can only hope Cassandra has what it takes to survive.





	Top Tier Combatant

Stephanie Brown was sitting alone in her room, a pint of ice cream cradled in her lap when she flicked the TV on. It was after school, and she figured she might as well watch the news and see if she could catch any hints of villainous schemes that might need to be spoiled tonight.

“Hello, this is Vicki Vale, coming live. In broad daylight, we just witnessed a vicious fight break out between A-list supervillain Bane and a few vigilantes. This throw-down has so far involved both Batman and Robin, though we have lost track of Robin. Things are not looking good for Batman either—“

Stephanie leaned forward as Vicki talked, eyes wide and trained on Bruce circling a way-larger-than-normal Bane. Usually, he was lift-a-dump-truck big, but right now he seemed toss-a-house humongous. Her breath caught as Bruce, looking tiny, faced off with the XXXL Bane.

Bane roared forward, and Stephanie clutched her spoon in a panic, convinced she was about to watch Batman get stomped to pieces by Bane’s cleated boots. Luckily, Bruce was nothing if not fast, and he dove to the left, clearing the charge mostly but still getting clipped by Bane’s iron knee pads.

Savage. Bane was a savage. Stephanie’s heart leaped and she was momentarily frozen until she metaphorically slapped the sense back into herself and sprang off the couch, abandoning her ice cream and shirking her sweatpants. She began tugging on her Spoiler costume, running around her room grabbing her equipment and wishing that she’d done a better job keeping her place clean so she didn’t have to search for her stuff like this in the first place.

As Stephanie pulled her stuff on, she watched the TV. Mainly, it was Vicki Vale narrating Batman dodging a variety of attacks, barely making it. He was holding his end but struggling too, and Bane was just getting started.

He was going to batter Batman, Stephanie would get there too late, and even if she was on time she didn’t know what she could do to change that outcome.

Stephanie was looking at the screen when the black blur whipped onto the rooftop. Like a bolt of lightning, something railed into Bane, snatching at the black box on his back that had thus far kept Batman from getting to the venom-transferring tubes.

Bane reacted at once, reaching backward and forcing the nimble figure to backflip off, nimbly avoiding him with such ease that Bane seemed almost comic. Bane’s incredible grace was just fumbling in comparison to the smooth movements of this stranger.

Stephanie’s eyes went wide, her brain taking a second longer to compute the facts because of fear. She realized, belatedly, that she knew this stranger. She was friends with her. That was Batgirl.

“Yes! Go, Batgirl, go!” Stephanie shouted, her arms flying up before she could stop herself, standing there half in and half out of her Spoiler costume. She watched Batgirl assess the field, imagining Cassandra’s quick eyes scanning and taking in the facts: Bruce was down, Bane was angry, his tubes covered up so that Cassandra couldn’t reach them even if she was fast enough to get to Bane’s back.

Stephanie knew Cassandra put together that that was why Bruce had fallen. Stephanie was suddenly very sure that Oracle had sent Batgirl to help, and felt a burst of passing jealousy that she was never sent anywhere to help out unless it was the last case scenario.

The little burn of envy didn’t last long, because it was quickly replaced with a wave of adrenaline and fear as Bane charged Batgirl. Both persistent and fast, Bane was formidable against Batman before he’d had this upgrade.

Stephanie felt sick to her stomach, watching Batgirl’s reed-thin form twist in a jump, evading Bane’s fist so closely that she was sure their skin had brushed together. Cassandra was so tiny, about the size of one of Bane’s arms, and Stephanie remembered the tells about how easily Bane had snapped the tall, muscular Batman’s back in half.

In the face of that, it was easy to forget the raw power of Cassandra’s hits, or how Cassandra easily and casually dominated anyone who sparred against her. When Stephanie’s mind jumped to that, she belittled her on confidence by replaying Bruce’s mantra: real battles were different than simple sparring.

She covered her mouth, heart beating out of her chest as she fixated on the TV. She no longer heard Vicki Vale or noticed Batman’s crumpled form, she could only see Cassandra spinning and dodging perfectly, weaving through Bane’s attacks like a gleeful cat around her owner’s legs, but for how long?

One hit would shatter veins and splinter bone. Cassandra’s head was the size of Bane’s fist; it would be worse than when Bane hit Batman because at least Batman had more height and heft to him.

It was a gamble for whether or not Cassandra broke 5’0.  
Fuck, fuck, fuck—she bit her fingers, then switched to dressing without looking because she needed to be ready to go so she could rescue Batgirl if she needed to.

Batgirl kept at it, frustrating Bane, and Spoiler suddenly noticed Batman again. He crept up behind Bane, leaping onto him with two Bataraangs, metal scraping against metal, finding the little lines in a way only Batman could. Bane bellowed angrily, careening around and sending Batman’s injured body lying. Batman caught himself, sinking his Batarangs into the ground to stop himself from skidding off the top of the building.

In his rage, Bane swung back around, but Batgirl wasn’t where he’d last looked. She was a shadow behind his back, and she reared up then, grabbing the vulnerable inside of his machine and tearing the two tubes out with incredible strength.

Cassandra was almost inhuman. Watching Bane chase Batgirl with his draining strength, Stephanie felt a low shudder run through her, goosebumps pricking her arms. She rubbed those arms as she watched Batgirl finish Bane off.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that quiet, smiley Cassa was the best fighter in the Batfamily. She was capable of insane, complicated feats, and if she hadn’t decided to be good…that thought was terrifying, and, hugging herself, Stephanie fell backward onto her couch. 

She listened to Vicki Vale breathlessly summarize the fight and watched Batgirl help Batman up. He walked off, too dignified to limp, and together they disappeared, presumably heading off to find where Robin had been thrown too.

Stephanie picked her carton of ice cream up, and, staring with dazed eyes at the TV, she took a bite.

She knew the title of her next persuasive essay: My Insanely Badass Best Friend Can Beat Batman Senseless.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little something that came to me randomly, so I decided to type it up for stress relief, and practice. I adore Stephanie, but she isn't always easy to write. Hopefully, I managed to capture her voice well, but I do appreciate feedback, be it positive or negative. Thank you for reading!


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